Arrangement for sealing a tube for keeping documents or similar container

ABSTRACT

An arrangement for sealing a capped container, particularly a tube for documents, wherein the cap has a wall portion in overlapping relationship with a wall portion of the container in the applied position of the cap. A locking member is provided for locking the cap in place by deforming the wall of the container whereby relative sliding movement between wall portions is substantially prevented.

United States Patent n91 Gartz I rm; 3,856,199 r4s1 -1)e. 24, 1974 1 1 ARRANGEMENT FOR SEALING A TUBE FOR KEEPING DOCUMENTS OR SIMILAR CONTAINER [75] lnventor: Kaj G. Gartz, Tullinge, Sweden [73] Assignee: K. G. flan sson AB, Tullinge,

Sweden [22]" Filed: Aug, 1, 1972 121] App]. No.: 276,947

[52] US. Cl 229/93, 138/89, 229/4.5,

229/5.7, 229/45,-229/21 [51] Int. Cl B65d 3/04, B65d 3/10- [58] Field of Search..... 229/93, 4.5, 5.7, 45, 47,

229/21; 206/D1G. 10; 138/96 R, 89;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 593,598 11/1897 Mills 292/307 R X 2,418,367 4/1947 'Pulvers 229/5.7 3,127,011 3/1964 Weddle 229/93 X 3,496,964 2/1970 Thomas et a1. 138/96 R Primary Examiner-William 1. Price Assistant Examiner-Stephen P. Garbe Attorney, Agent, 0rFirmWatson, Cole, Grindle &

Watson ABSTRACT,

' An arrangement for sealing a capped container, particularly a tube for documents, wherein the cap has a wall portion in overlapping relationship with a wall portion of the container in the applied position of the cap. A locking member is provided for locking the cap in place by deforming the wall of the container whereby relative sliding movement between wall portions is substantially prevented.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures Schade 229/47 ARRANGEMENT FOR SEALING A TUBE FOR KEEPING DOCUMENTS OR SIMILAR CONTAINER 7 In various connections there is a need of being able, in a rapid and simple way, to seal a container in a mannerto preclude unauthorized access to the contents of the container without irreparably damaging the seal. Document-keeping tubes to be used for sending original documents or copies from aprocess reproduction laboratory to the clients represent one specific example 'of such containers which are employed in a field where the sealing operation has a considerable influence on the rapidity of delivery and on the overall cost. Especially where sealing operations of thisand similar nature are concerned, in which the subject matter of the operation is not the final product in a continuous-flow mass production of absolutely uniform articles, but rather is tied up to an individual client demanding immediate delivery, there are no solutions enabling a quick and easy manual or mechanical sealing.- Manual sealing by means of paper, strings, tape, sealing-wax etc. has been employed.

The present invention has for its object to provide an arrangement which offers a solution to said problem.

The result aimed at is. obtained by designing the arrangement as disclosed herein.

Embodiments of the invention will be described here- I inaft'er by way'of example, reference being had to th accompanying drawing, in which: I v

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one capped end portion of a document-keeping'tube, partly broken away.

The document-keeping tube of FIG. 1 comprises a cylindrical container body 1- having a cylindrical cap 2 of the push-on type closing one of its end portions. The oppposite tube end may be-provided with a conventional,permanently'affixed bottom, or it may be provided with a further cap, such as of the same kind as that shown. The cap has a cylindrical wall portion or skirt 3 adapted, in the closing position of the cap, externally to overlap a cylindrical wall portion 4 of the container body.

Cap-skirt 3 has a circular aperture 5 and body-wall portion 4 has a circular aperture 6. When the cap is bottomed onto the container and then is turned into a definite angular position, the two apertures will cooperate in forming a passage way through both superposed wall portions, 3 and 4. The body-wall portion 4, however, will bottom within the cap before the cap can be pushed a sufficient distance over the end portion of the container to cause the two apertures to be concentrically aligned. Thus, owing to the fact that the two apertures cannot be brought into alignment with each other, it has been possible to dimension the same in a manner to cause those portions 7 and 8 of each one of the two wall portions 3 and '4 which in part cover theaperture of the opposed wall portion, to constrict the passageway formed by the two apertures from opposite edges thereof.

A locking member 9 is illustrated in FIG. 1 in a position in which it is looking the cap 2 to the container 1. Locking member 9 is a body of revolution having a disc-shaped larger head 10 at one end thereof, a simi-' larly disc-shaped, but smaller head 11 at the opposite end thereof, and a neck or shank 12 interconnecting v the two heads. The locking member is essentiallyrigid,

dimensioned to enable passage of the narrow head 11 therethrough. As isseen in FIG. 1, the outer aperture, i.e., aperture 5 made in the cap-wall portion, is too narrow also to permit passage of the large head 10 there through. The two edge portions 7 and 8 of wall portions 3 and 4 projecting into the passageway are adapted to constrict the passageway sufficiently only to enable the narrow head 11 to be moved from outside into the position thereof, as illustrated in the drawing, by concurrently deforming said projecting edge portion 8 of the inner wall portion, i.e., of said container-wall portion. It is presupposed that this projecting edge portion, at least, of said container-wall portion is designed to be sufficiently elastically yieldable, or resilient, as to flex away inwardly as the locking member is being forced into a locking position, Preferably, the entire container is made of a resilient material, such as PVC. As the locking member is then moved in a direction away from edge portion 8 so as to cause the edge portion 7 of the cap-wall portion or skirt to engage the gap between its I two heads 10 and 11, edge'portion 8 will flex back into its original position, thereby retaining the head 11 in place.

The cap 2, or at least the edge portion 7 of the capwall portion 3, is made to be sufficiently rigid to prevent the locking member 9 from being extracted by relying on any resilience of edge portion 7. Thus, to enable extraction, it will be necessary to force edge portion 8 inwardly towards the interior of the container. No suchaction, however, can be exerted since the large head 10 of the locking member covers the aperture 5.

Thus, the cap cannot be removed without destroying the locking member 9. Therefore, the neck or shank 12 is dimensioned to cause its strength to be low relative to the strength of edge portion 7. Thus, breakage of the shank can be effected by prying the large head 10 outwardly or by turning the cap 2 or by pulling the cap outwardly relative to the container 1, causing the shank to shear off.

Shank or neck 12 has a length substantially corresponding to the thickness of cap-wall portion or skirt 3,

and the narrow head 11 has an extension in depth essentially equal to thethickness of said container wall portion, whereby the locking member will neither trespass upon the space within the container, nor cause any danger of the contents of the container "engaging the edges of the locking member and getting damaged.

The external face of the large head may suitably be provided with seal-like identification marking such as a trade name or trademark.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is similar in essential parts to that already described. ldentical or similar parts in FIG. 2 bear the same reference numerals as in, FIG. 1. The container body 1, however, at its capped end has an external diameter which is reduced relativeto that of the remainder thereof, thereby forming an annular shoulder 13 serving as anabutment for the end edge of the cap skirt. Theycontainer in this case will not bottom within the cap, but the annular shoulder 13 engaged by the end edge of the cap will afford the positive limitation of the inward telescoping movement of the cap which makes the apertures 5 and 6 relatively nonalignable. The cap 2 which in the embodiment of FIG. 1 is suitably made of metallic material, in FIG. 2 is assumed to bemade of plastic material. The aperture 5 made in the'cap wall 3 is formed in its-outer portion with'a recess l4.sufficient in size to accommodate the head 10 when the locking member 9 is inserted in sliding movement of the cap longitudinally on the-container would be resorted to during introduction of the narrower head into the aperture 6. In both cases, this embodiment will afford improved safety against unauthorized manipulation of the locking edge portion 8 by tools inserted from outside through the aperture 5.

The arrangement shown and described will enable sealing of a container within a time of 2 to 3 seconds, and it is enough effective undoubtedly to be comparable to wax seals on postal items, for example, being in reality definitely superior to wax seals in that it is considerably more difficult to break the same indiscemibly, to repair it after breakage or to falsify the same. The arrangement also lends itself to automatic sealing operations, for instance by means of a press.

It is possible, of course, to use more than one locking member for sealing one single cap, provided the latter and the container have a sufficient number of corre sponding apertures for this purpose. Further, the cap may be of the insertion type instead of being of the push-on type shown. Also, the apertures need not be circular in shape, provided that the arrangement still comprises counterparts to the edge portions 7 and 8, as well as the locking member need not be a body of revolution. Any suitable means may be resorted to for effecting a safe attainment of the mere partial alignment between the apertures whereby the locking member can never be brought unobstructedly into and out of its locking position. Neither in these nor in any other respects. the present invention is restricted to the embodiments hereinbefore described and as shown in-the drawing, the same being susceptible of variations within the scope of the appended claims.

l claim:

1. An arrangement for sealing a capped container, particularly a tube for documents, comprising a cap fullyseated on the container, a wall portion of said cap and a wall portion of said container beingin overlapping relationship, an abutment on one of said container and said cap for limiting the overlap of said wall portions, openings of a given size in each of said wall portions in partial alignment with one another, said container opening having a resilient edge portion partially overlying said cap opening and said cap'opening having an edge portion partially overlying said container opening thereby forming a passageway between openings of a size smaller than the size of each opening, a' rigid locking member having spaced first and second heads interconnected by a shank, said second head being of a size smaller than each opening and larger than the passageway, and said first head being of a size larger than each opening, said second head lying wholly within said container opening as it bypasses said cap opening edge portion by deforming said resilient edge portion, said second head also underlying said cap opening edge portion, and said first head overlying said cap opening, whereby said abutment prevents relative sliding movement of said wall portions in one direction, and contact between said shank and said cap opening edge portion and between said second head and said resilient edge portion prevents relative sliding movement of said wall portions in an opposite direction.

I 2. The arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said shank is of a length substantially equal to the thickness of said cap wall portion. v

3'. The arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the thickness of said second head is substantially equal to the thickness of said container wall portion.

4. The arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the cross-section of said shank is substantially less than the size of said first head so as to permit rupture ofsaid shank upon removal of said second head from said openings.

5. The arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said cap wall portion overlaps said container wall portion, and said abutment is defined by the free end edge of said container in contact with an end wall of said tially equal to the thickness of said first head. 

1. An arrangement for sealing a capped container, particularly a tube for documents, comprising a cap fully seated on the container, a wall portion of said cap and a wall portion of said container being in overlapping relationship, an abutment on one of said container and said cap for limiting the overlap of said wall portions, openings of a given size in each of said wall portions in partial alignment with one another, said container opening having a resilient edge portion partially overlying said cap opening and said cap opening having an edge portion partially overlying said container opening thereby forming a passageway between openings of a size smaller than the size of each opening, a rigid locking member having spaced first and second heads interconnected by a shank, said second head being of a size smaller than each opening and larger than the passageway, and said first head being of a size larger than each opening, said second head lying wholly within said container opening as it bypasses said cap opening edge portion by deforming said resilient edge portion, said second head also underlying said cap opening edge portion, and said first head overlying said cap opening, whereby said abutment prevents relative sliding movement of said wall portions in one direction, and contact between said shank and said cap opening edge portion and between said second head aNd said resilient edge portion prevents relative sliding movement of said wall portions in an opposite direction.
 2. The arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said shank is of a length substantially equal to the thickness of said cap wall portion.
 3. The arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the thickness of said second head is substantially equal to the thickness of said container wall portion.
 4. The arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the cross-section of said shank is substantially less than the size of said first head so as to permit rupture of said shank upon removal of said second head from said openings.
 5. The arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said cap wall portion overlaps said container wall portion, and said abutment is defined by the free end edge of said container in contact with an end wall of said cap.
 6. The arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said cap wall portion overlaps said container wall portion, and said abutment is defined by a shoulder portion on said container wall portion in contact with the end edge of said cap.
 7. The arrangement according to claim 1 wherein a recess is provided in the outer surface of said cap wall portion over said opening therein for accommodating said first head, the depth of said recess being substantially equal to the thickness of said first head. 